Quality of the Cork Stopper Internationally Recognised

The quality of the cork stopper has been recognised all over the world. The perception of its performance continues on the rise, with numerous comments from worldwide personalities stating their increasing support and satisfaction towards this product.

In the United States, the Washington-based French Wine Society emphasized their cork-related taint was not an issue at its annual event, staged in October. Over 500 bottles of wine were opened at the French Wine Society Conference and it was announced that only four were affected by 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA); commonly referred to as ‘cork taint’.

Lisa Airey, French Wine Society education director stated “The numbers are pretty impressive. Obviously we are seeing a very positive upswing in the soundness of natural cork.” She continues, “There was a message in the bottles we opened this year. Far too many people consider any off-aroma present in wine to be TCA. They claim the wine is ‘corked’. This is unfair…and it’s time to set the record straight.”

This announcement follows a report by leading American oenology professor and wine judge; Dr. Christian Butzke — who stated “TCA is no longer a major problem for the United States wine industry”. In the report, published in the May/June 2009 edition of Vineyard & Winery Management, Dr. Butzke said TCA was “no longer a major issue from both a consumer and winemaker perspective.”

In addition to the positive statements by the French Wine Society and Dr. Butzke, leading US trade publication Wine Business Monthly said in its ‘2009 Closure Report’ that natural cork remains the highest rated closure among US wineries in terms of ‘overall perceptions’.

To top it up, in the Wine Future event held in Rioja; internationally renowned wine critic Robert Parker commented that “the quality of cork has clearly improved and that positive developments have been registered across the board”; using his immediate experience at the tasting event as an evidence for that statement, and placing the amount of possibly problematic bottles at under 1%.

These statements not only contribute to cork’s positive perception, but also confirm the incomparable quality of this product.

The Cork Industry has made an enormous effort in the past years to improve the quality of its stoppers, investing around 400 million Euros, in the last years, in research & development, innovation and new factory plants.

APCOR’s mission is to represent and promote the Portuguese Cork Industry, with more than 250 members, representing around 80 percent of the total national cork production and 85 percent of all cork exports. APCOR is also responsible for promotional activities, with added value to cork, on both a national and international scale, providing, in addition, an extensive Information Resource Centre on cork.